“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” is as true now as it was in 360 BC when Hippocrates gave this prescription to his patients. Good nutrition promotes health and helps prevent and manage many diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, heart disease, and high blood pressure. As the Older Americans Act’s largest health promotion program, the Elderly Nutrition Programs do more than just provide food. The purposes of the Elderly Nutrition Programs, which are administered by ACL, are
- to reduce hunger and food insecurity for older individuals,
- to promote socialization of older individuals, and
- to promote health and well-being of older adults.
In 2012, the Elderly Nutrition Programs served more than 223 million meals to almost 2.5 million people. From 2007–2011, these programs helped provide over 1.2 billion meals. Federal funding for the Elderly Nutrition Programs is combined with non-federal sources to expand its reach. This way taxpayer dollars are stretched even beyond the federal portion, since typically states are able to increase or expand resources of between 2 to 3 dollars per every federal Older Americans Act dollar.
The Elderly Nutrition Programs has two main components: the home delivered nutrition program and the congregate nutrition program.
by Kathy Greenlee, Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator, Administration for Community Living
ACL Blog: National Nutrition Month—Setting a New Table: More than a Meal
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